The Highland Park Town Council reviewed how much horse-drawn carriage vendors ponied up to the city in 2025 during a study session on March 3.
Carriage vendors are required to pay 5% of their gross revenue to the Town, an amount of $72,107.53 in 2025, in comparison to $56,936.41 in 2024. Gross revenue for the vendors rose to $1,263,850.80 in 2025 from $962,528.30 in 2024.
Incidents and complaints about the carriages were very low last year, according to the town’s 2025 Horse-Drawn Carriage Report. But some council members seemed mildly concerned about the financial accounting of one of the vendors.
“Is the juice worth the squeeze on if we capture a couple thousand more dollars, if I’ve got to send somebody out there to monitor somebody for a month?” posited DPS Director Chuck McGinnis. “But we can definitely research that option.”
“I think we need to have some kind of audit function in this, tracking business,” offered Councilmember Marc Myers. “I’m not saying they’re suspicious, but I just think that’s a lot of money, and it seems hard to comprehend we have no way to really monitor that.”
Some questions about proper carriage lighting and the Town being specified on insurance documents were discussed further.
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“It sounds like the takeaway is we need to develop and audit function to check this out,” Town Administrator Tobin Maples concluded the session, “maybe look at the lighting, and certainly verify what we’re doing insurance-wise regarding the Town.”
The Town Council meeting Consent Agenda included:
- Formally accepting the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and related audit for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025.
- Authorizing the Town Administrator to execute a professional services agreement with Legacy Engineering Group for the Douglas Avenue Reconstruction project.
- Authorizing the Town Administrator to execute a professional services agreement with Garver, LLC for the Eastern Avenue Reconstruction project.
The Public Hearing included approval of a proposed replat creating Lots 16R and 17R, Block 16, a replat of part of Lot 16 and all of Lots 17, 18 and 19, Block 16, 3rd Installment of Mount Vernon Addition, located at 3924 Mockingbird Lane.
The Main Agenda included the approval of a resolution validating the annual review of the Statement of Investment Policies as adopted by the Town of Highland Park and approving recommended changes.
Town staff had discussed fiscal year 2025 results, noting the Town’s total net position ended the year at $178,170,797, an increase of $11,785,138, or 7.1%. The increase is a result of operations (revenue over expense) of $3,924,782, a net increase in capital assets of $5,547,318, and the net impact of pension and other post-employment benefits of $2,313,038.
